The sister of Tariq al-Hashemi, Iraq's recently-appointed Vice President, was shot dead by gunmen today less than two weeks after the Sunni politician lost his brother to a similar attack. Mayssun Hashemi's 4x4 car was ambushed and sprayed with bullets as she drove through Baghdad's southern Hai al-Ilam district. Television channels reported that Ms Hashemi and her bodyguard were left to die because neighbours were too scared to leave their homes to give first aid.The assassination is the latest in a series of attacks on close family members of the Sunni political elite and came hours after Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, and Donald Rumsfeld, the embattled Defence Secretary, made an unannounced visit to meet members of the new Iraqi government in Baghdad.... http://www.timesonline.co.uk

Severe thunderstorms, producing hail and one tornado in Kershaw County, pushed across South Carolina on Wednesday, causing some property damage. There were no immediate reports of injuries.Kershaw County Sheriff Steve McCaskill said a reported tornado touched down south of Camden, forcing children to stay in school a little longer before being released in the afternoon. "We've held them in school until this line of storms passed through," McCaskill told WIS-TV in Columbia. "We had a lot of high winds, hail and real heavy rains for a while." National Weather Service meteorologist Jeff Linton said the agency confirmed the Kershaw County storm was a tornado. He said forecasters were still studying whether a tornado touched down and caused damage in Newberry County earlier in the afternoon. ...http://www.usatoday.com/weather/stormcenter/2006-04-27-sc-storms_x.htm

A week of celebrations turned to mourning on a university campus Thursday after a highway crash killed five students and staff as they headed home after setting up for a scholarship banquet. It was the second deadly crash in a week involving an Indiana school. Together, the accidents claimed 10 lives, nine of them students at either Taylor University or Indiana University."We're living a nightmare," said Jim Garringer, spokesman for Taylor University, a small evangelical Christian school that lost four students and a staff member when a school van was hit by a tractor-trailer on Interstate 69 Wednesday night.The five victims all worked in the university's dining services. Four others in the van were hospitalized, including a 22-year-old student in critical condition Thursday....http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,193355,00.html

Chinese President Hu Jintao is due to meet his Nigerian counterpart, Olusegun Obasanjo, and to address the Nigerian National Assembly on Thursday. On Wednesday, China secured four oil drilling licences from Nigeria in a deal involving $4bn in investment. Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa's top oil exporter, has long been viewed by China as a partner. President Hu is on a week-long tour of Africa, his second in three years. He is due in Kenya later on Thursday. The deal signed on Wednesday is one of seven co-operation agreements signed by Nigeria and China during the president's visit. China will buy a controlling stake in Nigeria's 110,000 barrel-a-day Kaduna oil refinery and build a railway system and power stations. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4949688.stm

Kenyan women's rights activists have condemned an MP who told parliament that women usually say "No" to sex, even if they mean "Yes". During a debate on a new sex crimes law, Paddy Ahenda said Kenya women were too shy to openly say "Yes" and warned the law could prevent marriage. Twelve of Kenya's 18 female MPs walked out in protest, saying Mr Ahenda and other MPs were "trivialising" rape. Many Kenyans are alarmed by a huge rise in the incidence of sexual abuse. "This is a nation that should be in shame because its leaders are laughing at offences committed against women and children," said Kenya National Commission on Human Rights official Catherine Mumma. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4950774.stm

The World Bank and the Chad government have reached an interim agreement in their dispute over oil revenue. The deal reached after talks in the US means the World Bank will temporarily resume lending to Chad, suspended over fears the oil money could be misused. Last month Chad's leader said he wanted to use oil revenues to pay for weapons to use against rebels. Two weeks ago, Chad repelled a rebel attack on the capital, N'Djamena and unrest continues near the Sudan border. The agreement also allows Chad access to a frozen bank account in London in which oil revenues are deposited. The account was blocked in January after the World Bank accused the Chadian government of reneging on a promise to set aside part of its oil revenues for long-term social development. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4950432.stm